In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

One word every Christian needs to know is the word forgive. To forgive means to cancel a punishment or a debt. It means to stop being angry at someone. Forgiveness can be illustrated with a simple pocket calculator. You can add up sins with a calculator. If you figure that we sin so many times a day over the course of our lives, that comes out to millions of sins. Then press "clear." Suddenly the count is back to zero. That's forgiveness. That's what God has done for us. Through Christ, God pressed the "clear" button. It's as though we never committed those sins. Our sin count is zero! That's great. But today, Jesus teaches us that he wants us to do that for others. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus says:

Just before this lesson, Jesus taught his disciples how to carry out church discipline. He said that if a sinner repents, then forgive him. But Peter was probably wondering if people would take advantage of this. So, Peter wanted to know exactly how many times he needed to forgive his brother. Would seven times be enough? After all, seven times in a row seems like a lot to put up with! But Jesus answered that seven was not enough. Jesus mentioned 77 times because we should not count or keep records of wrongs.

To teach this lesson, Jesus told the parable of the unmerciful servant. There was a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One of his servants owed him millions of dollars. He could not possibly pay all that money back. So, the king commanded that the man and his family would have to be sold to repay the debt. The king had every right to do this. The man owed him money and didn't pay it back. The wicked borrow and do not repay. If you owe a debt, you have to pay it back.

The servant instantly begged for mercy. He fell on his knees and promised to pay back everything, even though he could not possibly pay it back. And then, an amazing thing happened. Out of the blue, the king forgave him. He canceled the entire debt and let him go! On the calculator were all these numbers, the millions of dollars the man owed him. And then, the king pressed the clear button. So the servant was able to go free. He didn't have to be sold. His family would not be sold. He didn't even have to pay anything back. He didn't owe anything. The king canceled the entire debt. He forgave it all. What a great king!

God is like that king only better. We owe God more than millions of dollars. We owe an infinite debt. We have sinned against God. We owe him an eternal debt that we cannot begin to pay. God could have just sentenced us to hell for our sins. But he didn't. Instead, God is a very merciful King. God canceled our debt through Christ. Jesus paid the entire debt by living a perfect life in our place and dying on the cross to pay for all of our sins. Jesus rose from death because he had paid our debt in full. Hear this great news, God forgives you all of your sins because of what Jesus did. Your whole debt to God is forgiven. It's as though God had all of our sins counted up on his calculator and then he just pressed "clear." And now our sins are all gone, thanks to Jesus!

But the parable doesn't stop there. That is the basis for what follows. God has forgiven us all of our sins. Now, God wants us to forgive others as he has forgiven us...

2. SO FORGIVE OTHERS. GIVE UP THAT GRUDGE! (28-35).

The servant had owed millions and it was all forgiven, just like that! He must have walked out of that room really, really thankful and glad! His whole debt was canceled. He didn't owe a thing anymore. But somehow, that servant didn't really appreciate this great gift.

Did you notice what he did next. That very servant went out and found someone who owed him a little money. Now, this servant had owed the king millions of dollars, but the man he was seeking out owed him only a few dollars. Can you believe it? This man who had just been forgiven a debt of millions of dollars immediately goes out and begins choking a guy who owed him the equivalent of a bag of potato chips! He grabbed the man and was choking him, saying, "Pay back what you owe me!"

Then, in a very familiar scene, the guy who owes the few dollars gets down on his knees and begs for mercy. "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back," he said. But the unmerciful servant refused to show any mercy at all. Though he had just been forgiven a debt of millions of dollars, he would not forgive another man a debt of a bag of potato chips. Can you imagine? That's why we call him, "the UNmerciful servant." He showed this poor man no mercy at all and threw him into prison.

It kind of takes your breath away to witness something like this! Those who saw it were definitely moved by this, moved to tell the king. But before we get that far, let us push the pause button and think about this. Have we been unmerciful servants? We owed God more than millions of dollars! We have been forgiven millions of sins. But how have we treated our fellow servants? Have we ALWAYS forgiven right away? Or, did we hold a grudge against a certain someone? Maybe it was a co-worker. Maybe it was somebody at school. Maybe it was somebody here at church. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe they did sin against you. Did you forgive them? Or have you silently, quietly, passively, been choking that person to death by nursing a grudge all this time? Have you put them in your mental prison, refusing them any mercy? Have you written them off as bad people because you can't bring yourself to forgive? Are you holding a grudge?

Think about that as we continue Christ's parable. Now, the unmerciful servant has just thrown a man into prison because he owes him a few dollars. Maybe he borrowed a bag of potato chips and never paid it back. Well, there were other servants watching all of this, and they were upset. They went and told the king what had happened. And the king became upset too. And rightfully so! He called that wicked servant in and scolded him sharply. Then, he turned him over to the jailers to be tortured. And he would never get out of that predicament, because he could not begin to pay back that enormous debt.

Do you catch the drift? Jesus is teaching us a lesson here. He said, {35} "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." That's sharp law, isn't it? It cuts us to the quick. Do you mean to tell me that I'm going to hell if I keep nursing that grudge? Well, what did Jesus say. Did he say, "Aw, shucks, it's okay to hold a grudge"? No, he didn't. He said, this is how God will treat you, unless you forgive your brother from your heart (and that means sincerely, genuinely). This is strong law medicine. Jesus urges us to repent of all the times we held a grudge. And Jesus is saying, "Get rid of that grudge! It's not okay! It will drive out faith and lead you to hell!" Repent! If you are holding a grudge, you can't even pray the Lord's Prayer, because when you get to that petition that says, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others" we are actually praying for God to hold a grudge against us just like we are holding a grudge against somebody else. If you see yourself in that unmerciful servant, repent today!

Then, hear the word of the Lord. Though we all owe God millions, he forgives. Jesus came to take away our sins - even the times when we didn't forgive. You are forgiven through Christ! Picture yourself as that servant. God, the King, says, "All is forgiven, go in peace." Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to go choke somebody, like the unmerciful servant? Or are you going to do God's will and forgive your brother from your heart. I think you know the right answer. Your sins are all forgiven, go now, and sin no more. You are forgiven, go and forgive others. You are forgiven, so give up that grudge! Go now and forgive as God has forgiven you. Amen.